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Several property owners including the family of former President Daniel arap Moi are among those who will lose their multi-billion properties to the government for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway Road.

The late president’s family is set to lose two prime parcels on Mombasa Road both of which are developed.

A Gazette Notice issued on September 4 indicates that Nairobi Railways Club will be the biggest casualty losing almost 17 acres of land.

Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has already issued a notice to vacate to all the affected properties.

The iconic Lunar Park, popular with gaming activities for children went down on Wednesday.

Property worth millions of shillings was demolished at Nairobi Railways Club, home of Mwamba Rugby Club the oldest community club in the country, to pave the way for the construction of the Expressway.

The construction of the 27.1km road has already commenced and is expected to be completed by December 2022.

The Expressway is expected to serve at least 25,000 vehicles per day with a user expected to pay Sh300 per day to use the road.

The road’s authority has however explained that some of the landowners whose land will be taken over will be compensated.

The commission has, however, not explained how compensation of the affected persons will be done.

Other notable losers include St Mark Church situated in Westlands, Panari Hotel and the University of Nairobi.

In the Gazette Notice, National Land Commission (NLC) chairman Gershom Otachi, asked all interested parties to seek compensation. 

“Every person interested in the affected land is required to deliver to the National Land Commission on or before the day of inquiry a written claim to compensation, a copy of identity card, Personal Identification number, land ownership documents and bank account details,” read the notice.

Other establishments expected to go down are the expansive Doshi Holdings Limited, Kenya Railways Corporation, Simba Colt Motors Limited, Kipsirgoi Investment Limited, Kenya Police Sports Association offices, Valmo Limited, Next- Gen Office Suites Ltd.

Presidential order 

According to KeNHA a presidential order has been issued to the same effect in which the owners will lose the property.

The Sh62 billion project, which was started late last year, is expected to revolutionise transport in Nairobi and ease traffic jams on Mombasa Road by providing faster, reliable, and less costly transport.

Expressway begins at Mlolongo to JKIA, Nairobi’s CBD and ends at Westlands along Waiyaki Way. The project is a public-private partnership (PPP).

The road project was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in October last year.

Kenha Director General Engineer Peter Mundinia, says that the road project is unique in Africa due to the private-public partnership arrangement with much of the materials, labour and professional expertise being sourced locally.

Expressway had been delayed for nearly a decade but the construction has started. The project is a key development project as it will reduce traffic jams in the city.

The route will have two traffic lanes in either direction and will feature 10 interchanges, with a considerable portion of the expressway being elevated.

Sections of the Expressway will feature 8, 6, and 4 lanes based on projected traffic.

Its primary objective is to decongest Nairobi Metropolitan by providing faster, reliable, and less costly transport.

Construction is being carried out by the Chinese contractor China Road and Bridge Corporation under the PPP model.

An important feature of the new expressway will be the dedicated bus rapid transit  facilities, which will also help to improve public transport to the city.

Construction work on the expressway is ongoing despite a petition pending in court where two activists are urging for the project to be stopped.

They say the design, negotiations, and planning were done secretly.